David Chao, an orthopedic surgeon with team for 17 seasons, cites health, family reasons

The Chargers team doctor who had the support of many veteran players amid recent years of controversy announced Thursday he has chosen to step down from his position after 17 seasons with the team, citing health and family reasons.

David Chao, 49, performed 204 surgeries on Chargers players in the past 10 years, he said in a phone interview, but called it time to devote his attention to his wife and three children, including two 7-month-old twins, and a back injury that will require surgery this month.

Christopher Wahl, chief of sports medicine at the UC San Diego Health System, was named Chao’s replacement.

Chao said he took multiple epidurals while traveling with the team last season to deal with back pain. Planning to continue his private practice at OASIS, he described his tenure with the Chargers as “the greatest time of my life.”

“At that point in time, I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Chao said. “I also wouldn’t trade what I’m about to embark on now for the world. … Today is about thanking the Chargers for the time, thanking all the players and coaches for allowing me to enter their special world.”

There was a paradox to Chao.

He has been publicly spurned amid alcohol-related driving incidents in 1995 and 2006, multiple malpractice lawsuits since 1998, a public reprimand from the state medical board, and a broad Drug Enforcement Agency investigation that reviewed his record keeping. He was found liable in one malpractice case and paid an undisclosed settlement in another. This year Chao was cleared by the DEA when he was determined to be in compliance.

That was all before the NFL Players Association took aim.

At a Super Bowl news conference in January, top union officials demanded in New Orleans that Chao be replaced. Prior to that, an Article 50 investigation was launched in which an independent panel reviewed his methods. Chao and the Chargers’ medical team were ultimately exonerated.

The headlines did create uneasiness among some players and their agents based on what they’d read.

Through it all, the locker room’s most respected veterans were steadfast in vocal support of Chao.

Nick Hardwick is the Chargers’ team union rep.

Chao performed a major ankle surgery on the center during the 2009 season.

. Nick Hardwick came out of the game in the first half an is checked out by David Chao, team doctor.
— Sean M. Haffey

. Nick Hardwick came out of the game in the first half an is checked out by David Chao, team doctor.
— Sean M. Haffey

“He’s been a teammate for nine going on 10 years, it would have been,” Hardwick said Thursday. “He’s sacrificed a lot of time for us. He’s done a great job keeping us on the field, and ultimately, that’s where the player wants to be — on the field.

“As far as the union goes, they’ve got their own particular agenda. Even as a player rep, I’m not necessarily privy to what that agenda is. They don’t understand what goes on in our building. I guess it gets lost in translation about how things go inside our building. … We’ve been lucky to have him. That’s really all you can say about him. It’s a really happy day for him.”

Philip Rivers voiced similar support.

The quarterback’s interaction with Chao is best known for an arthroscopic knee surgery the Monday before the 2008 AFC Championship Game. Rivers played all four quarters, and after the postseason, Chao handled the reconstruction of Rivers’ torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Rivers said the negative persona surrounding Chao is “unfair” in light of his personal interaction with him, be it the right knee injury or other ailments over the years.

“He was a Charger,” Rivers said. “He wasn’t a doctor that also happened to be a team doctor. He was a Charger all the way. ... He’ll be missed.”